It's been a while for me. Due to work commitments and a change of lifestyle any creativity I once displayed was sucked out of me. It wasn't really obvious in real-time but I see it now. There have been some changes.

These shots were all taken months ago, in A Scottish summer. The weather was pretty lousy to be honest but we had a fantastic time. We stayed in a caravan with pretty much these views. Even better, every now & again it stopped raining! Quick! Out with the camera. And don't forget the bloody tripod! Hit the beach, set up the shot, get as creative as possible and hit the shutter. Job done. Head back to beer & warmth.....and repeat.

no.2 is my favourite, a gorgeous mix of colour and a certain quality seems to have been achieved by a very natural dreamy-looking softness in the foreground where the green and white of the snow (is it snow or white sand?) and grass mix.

So you've lost the drive to be creative? It's all about the end result - if you enjoy it and you're satisfied with what you've produced, then I'm sure you'll find the creative drive again. I'd be proud to have achieved the second one myself.

Incidentally, I have been thinking about booking one of these photography holidays in Scotland now for a while - where did you go? if anyone else is reading and can recommend one, I'd be grateful for a suggestion or two.

Also Zorro - what settings and gear did you use to create the second image?

Thanks for taking the time to comment. You're not alone in preferring number 2 as most seem to. I actually prefer number 3 myself. I must confess a lot of what's in your preference is down to Photoshop and luck. I'm not sure which lens I used but I suspect it was the 35mm f2 on my D80 body.

As for courses I have no idea. I've never been on one and never will as I prefer to learn things as I go. Location-wise it's easy. West coast, the further north the better. These shots were all taken near Arisaig which is just south of Mallaig where you can catch the ferry to Skye. We have a caravan and we took it up to Arisaig last summer. There's loads of campsites around the area. Not too many hotels though but who wants that anyway?

The third one is my favourite, too. It just has that great contrast in the sky and the clouds look very impressive. The first one looks great as well; I really love the combination of mountains and clouds (maybe missing a bit of the contrast of the third shot in the sky) and the light rays between the clouds. The foreground has a beautiful color.

Yeah... the second one is OK but the thing I don't really like about it is the "dreamy-looking softness". The sky almost looks like a rainbow just exploded. The green parts fell down.

It's not full-frame sadly but it's not bad. Apart from the metering which is rubbish it's better at photography than I am. I've no idea what to do with those tags mate, sorry. It baffles me why this site (in particular) makes displaying images so damned awkward.

I see you like birds and things - me too. Fast & long lenses are crucial for that type of photography and I have fast, and long; but not both at the same time.